Friday, April 07, 2017

No Holds Barred: The Return of King Kong

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with the unbeaten heavyweight who is the most avoided fighter in that division, Luis "King Kong" Ortiz.

With a record of 27-0 and 23 KOs, his next fight will be April 22 when he faces journeyman Derric Rossy (31-12, 15 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn as part of the card headlined by the Shawn Porter vs. Andre Berto fight. Exact TV details will be announced soon, but it will either be shown on Showtime or Showtime Extreme in the U.S.

We spoke with Luis Ortiz at a press conference in New York on March 30. He had just days before signed with advisor/manager Al Haymon and was still working out his plans, although he did repeatedly challenge the various heavyweight beltholders including Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder, and Joseph Parker.

We open with an analysis of why Luis Ortiz has been so avoided over his career including the stagnated state of the heavyweight division, how the promoters he has previously worked with have failed to market him and move him to a title fight, his sparring with MMA fighter "King" Mo Lawal, the surreal atmosphere at this New York press conference, and more.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.

Sunday, April 02, 2017

No Holds Barred: Tricia Arcaro Turton on Boxing, Poetry, and Politics

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Tricia Arcaro Turton, the owner and head coach of Arcaro Boxing.

A former pro and amateur boxer as well as a rugby player, the gym she now runs in Seattle, Washington, is known not only for training boxers of many ages and levels of experience, but also as a cultural center for the community.

"I just tend to interact in my community. Whether it be a person on the street or the grocery store clerk or a business owner, I just tend to really enjoy people and what they do," she said by phone Friday.

"And I wanted my gym to kind of be a barbershop kind of feeling. I wanted people to come here and be able to chill out and relax and be themselves, no matter what their background was, whether they were a high-level corporate person, or whether they were a struggling person just trying to make ends meet.

"I felt like, boxing gyms are the place where everything's equal. You get in the ring and it doesn't matter who your dad or mom is. It's just you in there and you have to defend yourself, they have to defend themselves, and you get to push each other."

Interacting with the community has meant that the gym has also held events featuring spoken-word poets, who perform their works in a boxing ring. Both the arts of poetry and boxing are interrelated, she said, since they both allow people to express themselves. In addition, these events have brought to the gym "a different group of people", thus exposing each group to the other's art.

It has long been known that boxing is a metaphor for life, but again new ground is being broken here. One person who trains at the gym, Nikkita Oliver, is a political activist, teacher, and attorney, who has worked with Black Lives Matter. She has announced that she is running for mayor of Seattle representing the newly-formed Peoples Party of Seattle.

Tricia Arcaro Turton is actively supporting Nikkita Oliver's campaign, which has its official mayoral launch party April 2.

We also discussed how she got involved with boxing, the role of many trailblazers in women's boxing, the importance of boxing for self-defense, why "boxing is a sport that transcends all labels", boxing and the LGBTQ community, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web here.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is sponsored by:

Skullz Double-End Bags, the perfect bag for your combat sports training. Skullz Double-End Bags provide a realistic striking target, and help improve timing, distance, and hand and eye coordination. Hang it and hit it right out of the box! No pump required. For more information, go to SkullzDeBags.com.